What: Neighbor connects people with storage needs with hosts who have space and are willing to provide storage facilities.
Expected pay: set by you
Husl$core: $$$
Commissions & fees: 4.9% + 0.30 cent processing fee charged to hosts; renters also pay a fee to the site
Where: Nationwide
Requirements: Be 18 or older; have storage/parking space available for rent; agree not to discriminate based on the renter’s age, race, disabilities, gender or sexual orientation.
Review:
Neighbor encourages anyone with an empty garage, storage shed, driveway, parking space or attic to sign up to rent it out. Rental rates are set by the host. But the site encourages hosts to set their rates at about half the cost of renting similar space from a professional storage facility. Since your garage is probably not as secure or convenient as Public Storage, it’s likely that you’d get few bookings if you set your price above that range anyway. Besides, Neighbor will mark-up your space to pay for its matchmaking service.
Neighbor takes about 5% of the rental price as a fee paid by hosts. The site also imposes a sliding scale “service fee” on renters. (The percentage charged to renters used to be 15%. Now it can be higher for small rentals, and lower for higher-priced rentals, according to the company.) Payments are made by direct deposit at the end of each month or rental term, whichever comes first. Although the pay is most likely modest, it’s a low-maintenance side hustle that can generate passive income in most months.
Beware the risks
But there are some risks, too. If you need to cancel a booking at the last minute, you could face a $20 inconvenience fee. Boot a tenant before the end of the term or with less than 30 days notice and there’s a $60 host eviction fee. Finally, you can be held liable for damage to a tenant’s property, too. The site encourages hosts to require a detailed listing of what’s being stored and to determine the condition that the items are in at move-in to protect you from false claims.
…About that insurance guarantee
The site has a “guarantee” that appears to cover losses to both the host’s and the renter’s property. But don’t count on it. The policy is extremely limited. First, it’s “secondary” coverage, which only kicks in when your own insurance doesn’t apply. That would mean that you could be subject to your own homeowner’s deductible. Moreover, covering a claim at all is “at Neighbor’s sole discretion,” according to the site’s terms.
Neighbor is a relatively young site, which may be why we have yet to hear hosts complain about losses. But a guarantee that’s triggered solely a company’s discretion, it’s not a guarantee. If you choose to rent out storage space through this platform, be sure to talk to your own insurance agent to make sure your policy will cover commercial (for profit) use of your space.
If you like the idea of renting storage and parking spaces, also check out CurbFlip, and Pavemint. You can also rent your space for special events with Peerspace and Splacer.
What their users say: (from an interview with SideHusl)
Josh Robbins has been a Neighbor host for just over two years — ever since he moved to Utah and bought a house with a four-car garage. The garage is segmented, with two spaces separated by a wall. He uses one side and rents out the other for $200 a month.
The first time he rented it, it was to a few BYU students, who wanted to store their stuff for the summer; now he’s rented the entire space to a client who has jet skis and ATVs. Since the entire space is rented, Robbin’s says the renter simply has the garage code and can go in and out at will, causing him no inconvenience. But even when the renters needed access, he says it’s been a low-maintenance side hustle.
“It’s a lot easier than tenants,” he says. “The thing about storage is that people put things there and don’t think about it until they come to take it out. There’s almost no work involved.”